Sealing means



'Mami 25, 1924;

E. GRAUERT SEALING MEANS Filed Jan. 24. 1922 m/m/ro/f' wrom/Ens Patent hier., iii, w24.

EDG GRUERT, 0F MIDBLEEX, NEW

sind mirarte.

.apprentice and January as, rasa. sinn a. 'asista movin@ bodies as exem liiied for instance by housings and rotatable retorts comprising parts of apparatus utilized generally for roasting, calcining, burning, disinte grating and reducing materials and for other processes in which gases are eliminated or developed. ln -many instances it may be desirable to retain these gases as useful products and it may he necessary, in order to successfully carry out the articular process, to absolutelyexclude air' from the apparatus or, because of the poisonous or other harmful characteristics of the gases to absolutely prevent the same from escaping from the apparatus into thesurroundino atmosphere.

uring the operation of processes of the kind under discussion, the particular materials may be subjected to vacuum equilibrium or pressure. Up to the present time, in carrying out such processes, particularly those which require material to he subjected to higher temperatures, such materials have been treated in stationary vertical retorts for the reason that horizontal retorts, under these circumstances, are not efficient. This is particularly so with the horizontal retort which is charged and dis; charged at intervals and which accordingly requires the furnace and retort to he coo ed down. Some of the existing vertical retorts are of the type known as continuous feed and discharge retorts and provide a considerably prolonged period of usefulness and a higher degree of economy in reduction. All of the devices mentioned hereinbefore, however, have the great defeet that they all operate on the principle that the material treated therein must convey the heat through the material itself and not by contact with the retort itselfo In such cases, the eect 20:3 radiant heat from the retort on such material is suhstantially eliminated. As these materials are more or less poor conductors of heat,

the conduction oi heat therethrough is greatly delayed vand it the mass in the re-` tort consists ofa greater percentage of tine material, the action oi heat conduci tivity is still urthert hampered, thus in each case greatly prolonging the. time rcuired to produce the finished product. urtherrnore, the latter, no matter whether it originally consisted oi clear pieces, coarse and line mixed, or` tine alone, will not come out ci the retort nniiormll in shape for the reason that certain portions ci the material which have been in contact with the retort may loe overdone, other portions may be perfectly treated, while the material at the centre may he underdone.

The object of rn invention is lto over-- come the recited eiecte by providing a simple and eihcient seal which permits the utilization ci a rotatable retort whereby all parts ot the material contained therein may beevenly and uniformly subjected to the heat radiated by said retort in a minimum period of time. Other more spen cilic objects ci? in invention will appear from the description hereinafter and the features ci novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

lin the accompanyinon drawings, which illustrate an example el my invention withn out detining its limits, Fi ure l isa trag. menta longitudinal section of an apparatus ilustrating my improved seal taken on the line l--l of rig. 2; Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating .a controlling device forming part of my invention.

In the drawings, l represents the free end section ci a retort ci conventional form, provided with 'annular metallic tires 2, oi which one is illustrated, said tires being ada ted to irictionally engage wheels 3 rotata ly mounted upon suitaole portions oi the apparatus. Jigny customary means may be provided for rotating the retort l about its airis in the conventional manner; as such driving means forms no part oi the present invention, it has been omitted for the sake ci clearness. `'lhe retort further includes an extension 4 which may be suit-- ably secured to the end oi lsaid retort as hy means of bolts, and may also he provided with areceiving chamber 5, which may be bolted or otherwise secured to the extension l; lin the preferred arrangement, a ringshaped disk 6 of sheet steel or other metal is secured between the contiguous ends of the extension 4: and the chamber 5 of the retort and. projects radially outward from the latter, as shown in Fig. 1. The material to be treated, which may, :for instance, consist of magnesite ore, may be edto the receiving chamber 5 of the retort through a pipe 7, which extends through a converging hood 8 having a flange 8a at its small en' a apted for connection with a suitable pipeline Whereby such/gases as may be generated in the apparatus are conveyed to their destination. The large end of the hood carries anannular flange 8b, to which a sheet steel or other inetallic ring-shaped disk 9 is bolted, said disk 9 being similar to the dislr 6 and surrounding the chamber 5 of the retort. A bearing 1'() is located upon the hood 8 and serves as a journal Afor a shaft 11 which has its inner end journalled in the flange 8b of the hood but does not penetrate the disk 9, said shaft carrying two levers 12 and 13, the former ol which carries, preferably in an adjustable manner, a counterweight 12, while the latter is ot curved form, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. The elements 11, 12u and 13 comprise what may be termed a controlling device, the purpose and o4 eration or' which will appear more fully ereinafter. The apparatus further consists of complemental sections 14 and 14a of annular form and provided with peripheral flanges 1lb between which a ring 15 is securely clamped, said members 14, 14 and ring 15 together forming an annular closed chamber 14C which surrounds theenlarged end of the hood 8 and the extension fl of the retort and into the interior ot which the disks 6 and 9 project, as illustrated in Fig. 1. A housing consisting ot complemental sections 16 and 16 bolted 'together at their peripheries surrounds the members 14 and 14a, and is provided upon its interior at opposite sides ont the flanges la", lwith corrugated seats 1'?, 17% upon which annular ball races 18 and 18' are bolted or otherwise secured. Between these ball races and the members 14: and 14- which, in proximity to said races, are curved to form co-operating ball races, a plurality of ball bearings 19 are located. Any necessary adjustment of the ball races and sections 14 and 14 may be secured by means of different llange liners 20 located between the peripheral llanges of the sections 16 and-16a; the housing consisting of the sections 16 and 16 may be lirinly fastened to the masonry by means of suitable braces or supports 21. With the arrangement so lar described, it will be obvious that 'the annular chamber 14 Aformed by the sections 14 and 14; may be rotated within the housing formed by the members 16 and 16 upon the ball bearings 19 with a minimum of friction. Any

Leoncio suitable means may be provided for bringing about such rotation; for instance, the danges 14". of the sections 14 and 14 may project slightly beyond the ring 15 to orm an annular space or recess in which a ring gear 22 is fixed in any suitable manner, said ring gear being in mesh with a pinion 23, as illustrated in Figs. 1 *and 2. The pinion may be mounted upon a shaft 24 which is journalled in bearings 25 and 25 1 anchored, for instance, on iron bars 26 ernbedded in lthe masonry, as shown in Fig. 2, and further being fixed in the brackets 21, so that the housing, shaft pinion and ring gear :torni a sell-contained machine. The shaft 24 may, `lor instance, be equipped with a positive clutch 27 adapting it :tor connection with a suitable driving mechanism, crit may be otherwise connected in any conventional manner with a source of power.

ln practice, a suitable liquid is introduced into the chamber 14h formed by the ineinbcrs 14 and 14, it being understood that such liquid is always ol a character to have no injurious eil'ect upon the material being treated in the retort; in the present case, it may be assumed that such material consists of magnesite ore and that the liquid is water. lf such liquid is poured into the circular chamber lilc and the latter is set in inotion, then said liquid will be distributed evenly; in other words, if the chamber 14 stands still and enough liquid is poured into it to lill it to overflowing, and said chamber is then set in motion, it soon will appear as though there were no liquid in the same. lf, however, after said chamber has attained its proper speed and it is again filled, and such itilling is continued until the liquid has reached a level indicated by the line 28 in Fig. 1, and then discontinued, this' level will be maintained as long as theA chamber is in motion. Should the speed of the chamber reduce, the surplus amount of liquid will begin to run out at the deepest point of the rimr and will run over the inwardly curved sidbs ot the sections 1aland 14 of the revolving chamber. The liquid will cling to these sides until it has reached the outermost points thereof and will then be "thrown of? violently by centrifugal force only to be caught in thehousing. As the chamber continues to revolve, it will not be 'visibly apparent that the liquid actually oozes out 'from the bottom, but coming over the sides at the bottom, will slightly cling to the inwardly curved parts thereof, and as long as said chamber is in motion will appear in the form of `rain all about the housing. The oozing out ci 'the liquid at the bottom is created b 'the phenomenon that the level of the liquid which was concentrical to the vessel in the first condition has, under the second condition, become eccentric, so that if the speed of the chamber a eet/,eee

, gradually leave the chamber until it reaches rcp the original amount contained in said chamber when standing still. Should, however, the chamber be suddenly stopped, then all the surplus liquid will pour out at once from all parts thereof. When thel liquid is caught in the housing formed by the sections 16 and 16, it runs toward the lowest art thereof and passes through the openlngs formed by the corrugations of the seats 17 and 17a and into a circular channel 29 from which it passes through openings into a vessel 31, from which it may be removed through al convenient pipe line 32.

lf, while the circular chamber 14 is in motion, it is lilled with suitable liquid to the level indicated by the line 28, ,it will be found that the two disks 6 and 9 are evenly immersed in said liquid, the only .difference being that the disk 9 is stationary, while the disk 6 is slowly moving with the retort in l the same direction as the liquidit being understood that the retort is being rotatably actuated when the apparatus is in operation. Under the edects of centrifugal force, the level of the li uid in the three s aces a, b and c created ly the disks 6 an 9 in the chamber 141, stands at the level indicated by the line 28, whereb the outside atmosphere at a and c is comp etely cut off from b and communication between the interior of the apparatus and the spaces a and c is similarly cut od. Should more or less of a vacuum be created in the retort, the level in b will advance inwardly toward the centre of the retort while the level in a and c would move outwardly to a corresponding extent and the diiierence between the two levels would be in conformity with the diderence between the vacuum pressure and that of the outside atmosphere. lf the chamber 14 is rotated at a speed at which the liquid attains its normal level 28 when an equilibrium exists between the retort and the outf side atmosphere and the vacuum is now created, then b will travel inwardly and af-c will move outwardly, as reviously described. If the speed of the c amber 14 is now slowly increased, the dierence between a--c and b will become less because of the increased centrifugal force, so that it is absolutely in the ower of the operator to adjust this condition, that is the diderence between the levels of the liquid in a, and c, in accordance with the requirements or needs of the particular rocess in hand. The same condition prevails if ressure occurs in the retort, exce ting t at in such. case the levels in e an c will travel inwardly and the rlevel in Zi will move outwardly, this condition being controlled by the graduated speed of the chamber 111C.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 3, the line H represents the outermost line which theliquid assumes in the rotating chamber 14 while H represents the line which the liquid assumes before it leaves the disk and H2 represents the highest level which the liquid reaches under normal conditions. The arrows in Fig. 8 indicate the direction in which the chamber 14 revolves and as the liquid travels with said chamber, the surface of such liquid may be compared to a swiftly running river. The adjustable weight 12a on the lever 12 pulls the lever 13, which is situated between the hood flange 8b and the section 14 of the rotating chamber 14Cn upwardly until it reaches the surface of the revolving liquid, whereupon said lever 13 stops, thiscondition lbeing maintained as long as everything is in proper order.

lf, however, some of the liquid evaporates or leaks'out, the lever 13 will follow the new level attained by the liquid and if a critical point is reached, will bring this fact to the attention of the operator in any convenient manner as, for instance, by causing the ringing of a bell or the sounding of an alarm to indicate that something is wrong. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner, as `or instance. by providing the lever 12'with a Contact 12b in the form of a resilient segment, adapted to co-operate with a stationary metallic contact l()a mounted upon the bearing 10 and suitably insulated therefrom. The' contacts 12b and 10a are located in an electrical circuit which also includes the bell 12C or its equivalent as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3 of the drawings. That is to say, when the lever 13 moves beyond the line H2 toward the line H the contact 1.2b will slidably pass over the contact 10a in engagement therewith and thus bring about an actuation of the bell 12e; from this point on the Ibell 12c keeps on ringing no matter how much nearer to the line H the lever 13 moves and is automatically stopped only after the contact 12b has been moved back to its initial position out of engagement with the contact 10'1. This return of the parts is brought about by restoring the level of the liquid to the proper safety point; the contact 12b remains out of engagement with the ycontact 10 as long as the level of this liquid remains substantially constant. lf the level of the liquid drops further or, in'other words, until it reaches the line H and there is consequently danger that the gas or air may break the seal, the controlling device may be caused to automatically close the pipe line leading from the hood 8 of the retort to a gas storage vessel, if such an installation is present. lt may also be utilized to stop the feed to the retort and in such cases, as

there is a comparatively small amount of' material in the retort at the moment, the operation will cease in a very short time. en a new retort is set in motion,.the

` is constructed. ot cast iron or steel.

una

retort itself and the parts connected therewith will run true on the tour supporting points of the running gear represented by the wheels 3, but when the casting leaves the ioundry there is a certain amount ofv stress in said casting which, as the retort is reheated under entirely did-erent conditions from those existing in the foundry, will cause said retort to Warp, this condition being practically the same whether the retort When the retort gets old. this 'warping rather vincreases, although the four points on the running gear are practically not ailected by said distortion of the retort. 'F rom these points to the end ot the retort, however, the slight difference in motion is multiplied so that at the end of the retort on both sides the deflection is considerable, which deilection is again multiplied and increased by the sheet steel disk t5. its there is, however, ample room in the seal to allow for such delection, the'apparatus is not adected in its precision of work and dependa-bility and the eiliciency ot the seal is maintained intact.

The invent-ion is extremely simple in construction and arrangement and reduces to a vast extent the period of time necessary to produce the various materials, for which apparatus of the type under discussion are designed, the production oft the materials being also absolutely uniform. Furthermore, the heat to which. all the particles of the material are subjected is in perfect control, so that the hi best efficiency isreached in fuel consumption and the life of the horizontal retort is indelinitely prolonged even when higher temperatures are continuously used. Furthermore, the continuous feed and discharge arrangement is made possible with a horizontal rotating retort.

'Various modifications in the specific form shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

l. claim:

1. The combination oit' a stationary hood, a rotatable retort having one end extending neonata into said hood, a rotatable vemel adapted to contain a liquid and rotatable about said one end oi said retort, means tor rotating saidl vessel to force said liquid outwardly therein under centrifugal "torce, and'means carried by said hood and retort extending into said liquid whereby communication between the interior of said retort and the exterior of the hood is sealed.

2. The combination oit a stationary hood, a rotatable retort having one end extending into said hood, a rotatable vessel adapted to contain a liquid and rotatable about said end of the retort, means for rotating said vessel to force said liquid outwardly therein under' centrifugal torce, a stationary annual disk carried by said hood and a movable disk carried by said retort, both projecting into said liquid to seal the communication between the interior of the retort and the exterior of the' hood.

3. The combination of a stationary hood, a rotatable retort having one end extending into said hood, a rotatable vessel adapted to contain a liquid and rotatable about said one end of the retort, means for rotating said vessel to force said liquid outwardly therein under centrifugal Jforce, means carried by said hood and retort extending into said liquid to seal the communication between the interior of said retort and the exterior of the hood, and a controlling device automatically operated in accordance with variations in the level of said liquid.

4. The combination oit a stationary meinber, a rotatable member extendinginto the saine and annularly spaced therefrom, a vessel adapted to contain a liquid androtatable exteriorly about said two members at their common point, means for rotating said vessel to. torce said liquid outwardly therein under centrifugal torce and annular disks rojecting from said members into said liquid whereby communication through said annular space `troni the outside is sealed.

lln testimony 'whereot l have hereunto set my hand.,

EDGAR 

